


in shadows

by ohlawsons



Series: cat nua [4]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Pillars Prompts Weekly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 02:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13448610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlawsons/pseuds/ohlawsons
Summary: It was just supposed to be a nice gesture, a quick trip to pick up a gift for Edér. Neria wasn’t planning for the Leaden Key to ambush them on the way home.





	in shadows

**Author's Note:**

> For @pillarspromptsweekly 0023: tail! there was a whole dunryd row subplot but puppies happened instead, so....... oops?

“It pains me to admit it, but you’re pretty damn handsome.”

“You don’t really have to put it like _that_ , but I’ll take the compliment.” Edér gave Neria a sidelong glance, breaking out into a grin as he caught her eye.

She scoffed and shook her head. “I’m talking to the dog, and you know it.” She managed to keep her voice relatively even, but couldn’t quite hold back a smile of her own — which definitely had _nothing_ to do with the fact that she had found herself, as of late, becoming more and more drawn to Edér.

Even their current detour, which was probably ill-advised and detracting from Neria’s original intent to report back to Lady Webb, was the consequence of Neria jumping at the first opportunity to impress him. They’d been in Defiance Bay for all of an hour that morning when she’d come across a man trying to sell a pair of golden retriever puppies in the market. It had taken a good ten minutes of feigning intense interest in some armor that was, quite frankly, _hideous_ , before Edér had wandered far enough away that Neria felt comfortable approaching the man, alternating between bribery and threats to ensure that he would still have at least one of the dogs for her to pick up later in the day.

It had taken a hefty amount of gold and the promise that she would invoke Berath if he didn’t cooperate, but true to his word, the merchant still had a single puppy when Neria dragged Edér out of the inn late in the afternoon. She wasn’t sure if he or the puppy had been more elated at the surprise adoption, but either way it had reaffirmed that she’d made the right choice.

She wasn’t looking forward to having to carry around a puppy with them until they returned to Caed Nua, but she didn’t feel she could complain, not when Edér had similarly surprised her on their last trip to Dyrford Village; a farmer just outside of town was giving away a litter of kittens since he couldn’t afford to feed them all through the coming winter, and Edér had brought one to Neria. She’d returned and offered to take _all_ of them, which the farmer had taken her up on, and Edér had been the biggest help getting all seven kittens back to the keep.

So Neria would tolerate a single puppy.

_Speaking_ of tolerating the puppy… “Y’know, if Aloth’s avoidance of Penelope is anything to go by, he’s not going to be too happy about this. I’m sure Kana won’t mind, though, if you need to switch rooms with me,” Neria offered. She would miss her late night chats with the chanter, but it _could_ also be nice to share a room with someone who was as grumpy in the mornings as she could be.

Edér shrugged, holding up the puppy to give him a stern look. “You’ll behave, won’t you? ‘Sides, if we’re gonna be switchin’ rooms, why don’t you and I just share?” The puppy gave a light bark, and with a little chuckle Edér pulled him back down to cradle him against his chest. “Since the two of you already like each other so much.”

Neria ground her teeth together, letting out a slow breath to keep from immediately agreeing. Edér wasn’t _serious_ , she knew; they’d joked about this before, after all, since she was always so adamant about sharing a room with Kana or, occasionally, Hiravias. “I’ll pass.” She forced out a laugh and searched for an excuse, adding after a moment, “I get enough attention from dogs with Penelope at Caed Nua.”

“Your loss.”

She was fairly certain that Edér winked at her, then — she couldn’t say for _sure_ , given the stubborn way she was keeping her eyes focused on the uneven cobblestones as they walked. Neria cleared her throat, happy enough to let the evening fall back into silence. They had just turned a corner, the main street of Copperlane coming into view several blocks ahead of them, when Neria first noticed the presence following behind them. There hadn’t been anything specific — no errant footfalls, no long stretched shadows, no movement caught in the corner of her eye — but it was more of just a general sense, something she’d picked up in the years between Rauatai and the Dyrwood when she’d traveled alone.

After two more blocks, the nagging sensation still hadn’t left; with a sharp sigh, Neria frowned. “Just go with it,” she muttered under her breath, hoping Edér could hear her. More loudly, she let out an overtly anguished groan and cried, “ _Fuck_ , did that guy— Edér, I think he sold us a faulty dog.” Ignoring Edér’s confusion, she reached up on her tip toes and inspected one of the puppy’s feet. Almost immediately, the little golden retriever began licking at her fingers and Neria grimaced. She tugged Edér down so he was kneeling, now only a few inches taller than she was, and wiped her slobber-covered hand on his shirt sleeve. “Yep, look at that paw. Faulty.”

Edér’s confusion had turned to concern — either for Neria or the dog, she wasn’t sure — and he tilted his head to get a better look at the paw Neria had pointed out. “I don’t know what you’re seein’ Neria,” he admitted. “Looks fine to me.”

“No, look.” Absentmindedly reaching for a paw, Neria spared a glance just past Edér’s shoulder and caught a glimpse of a tall, bulky figure as they slunk back into the shadows of one of the buildings. She pressed closer, brushing against him as she feigned her continued investigation of the dog’s paw. “We’re being followed.,” she whispered.

“Sure you’re not just bein’ a bit paranoid?” He was still looking over the puppy, but glanced up to give Neria a knowing look.

“You know I’m paranoid. Doesn’t mean I’m wrong.” There was a glint from something, likely armor or weapons, from an alleyway off to Neria’s left, and barely noticeable movement from where she’d seen the figure a few moments before. She shifted her weight, deliberately turning her back to them so she could continue speaking, as well as perhaps to alleviate a bit of suspicion. Neither of them were prepared for a head on confrontation; Edér had his sword and Neria never went anywhere without her war hammer and at least one axe, but beyond that they were essentially defenseless.

A quick trip through Copperlane wasn’t _supposed_ to end in an ambush, after all.

“There’s one on the other side of the street, and at least one back—” Neria’s words cut off with a strangled cry as pain tore through her right shoulder. She glanced down, instinctively reaching up with her left hand, to find the blood-soaked tip of a crossbow bolt just visible through a tear in her dark tunic. She hefted her axe in her left hand, beginning to breath heavily as rage and adrenaline settled in her chest. “They’re fucking dead,” she seethed, just barely aware of approaching footsteps over the pounding of her pulse in her ears.

There were two others, an aumaua and a human, racing down the street towards them, but Neria ignored them for the crossbowman still concealed in the shadows of the alleyway. As she stormed towards them, she caught the glint of the crossbow a second time; it was just enough of an indication of their position, and with a grunt of effort Neria hurled her axe in their direction. It impacted with a low, satisfying sound, but by the time Neria had reached her — an elven woman, she could see now — she’d already wedged the axe out of her stomach and was reaching for a blade of her own.

Neria had to admire the woman’s tenacity, as she held a rapier in one hand and clutched at her open, bleeding stomach with the other, but that didn’t change the fact that the woman had to die. She’d _shot_ her, after all. With a white-knuckled grip on her hammer, Neria blocked and parried the elf’s ceaseless attacks; as the woman backed her out into the street and into moonlight, Neria caught the dull emptiness in her eyes that typically accompanied the unwavering surge of a battle-rage, the mindless energy of the frenzy that had served Neria so well in the past.

She herself was doing everything she could to keep from slipping into the comfortable haze she so often fought with. It would certainly diminish the pain from the bolt in her shoulder — just as the elf was likely hardly aware of the gash in her stomach anymore — but it would also leave  her open, vulnerable to attacks and wounds that she wouldn’t even feel until much later. Given her lack of armor, that seemed the worse idea for the moment.

A lucky swing from Neria’s hammer hit the woman square in the chest, colliding with the crunch and snap of bones and leaving the elf staggering backwards. She fell to one knee, the rapier clattering to the ground, and Neria sneered down at her. Not even the most intense battle-focus could keep that much pain at bay.

The elf collapsed, and with a grunt Neria rolled the woman over with her boot, kneeling to retrieve her axe from where she’d fallen on it. Edér called her name just as she stood upright, and Neria glanced off to her right in time to see the human lunging for her with his sword. She raised her hammer instinctively to block to strike, letting out a cry of anger and pain at the impact as her shoulder burned in protest. The human pulled back, and Neria took advantage of the moment to swing out with her axe; he easily knocked it aside with his blade, and he followed it up with a swipe that left a decent sized gash in Neria’s left thigh.

She stumbled backwards, grimacing and glaring up at the human with as much vitriol as she could muster. She spat in his direction and tossed her hammer to the ground — her right arm was practically useless at this point, anyway — letting the pain and blood and adrenaline fuel the growing numbness as a familiar energy pulsed through her veins. In the brief seconds of inaction, a look somewhere between fear and hesitation flickered across the human’s face before being replaced with grim determination, and Neria allowed herself to relish in his moment of uncertainty before striking.

She attacked with ferocity, now, her motions quick and decisive where only moments ago they had been sluggish and pained. She’d lost sight of Edér, and the other attacker, and even the shadows and alleyways and roads; her focus was so single-minded that the only thing that registered in her mind was the human. She knocked him to the ground and wrestled the blade from his grasp, and as he attempted to flee she ran him through with his own sword.

The attack was over, Neria knew, but she was also just lucid enough to be aware of the fact that as soon as the energy from the battle faded, she would once again feel the full extent of her wounds. Neria’s adrenaline spiked as heavy footsteps approached and she whirled around, the human’s sword still outstretched, just far enough away from Edér to avoid him as he made his way towards her.

“You alright?”

Neria bobbed her head in something close to a nod, letting the sword fall to the ground as fatigue began to seep into her limbs. “Hurts,” she muttered, grimacing and sucking in a sharp breath as pain began to blossom throughout her shoulder and thigh. “Help me with this arrow?”

Wordlessly, Edér nodded and moved to stand behind her. He knelt down, and Neria grit her teeth as she felt him grab the crossbow bolt to steady it. “On three?”

“Just fucking do it.” Before she’d even finished speaking, there was a sharp _crack_ as Edér broke off the back half of the bolt. The burst of pain left Neria lightheaded and a string of curses poured from her. “Thanks,” she forced out, taking a moment to steel herself before grasping the exposed tip of the crossbow bolt and pulling it forward from her shoulder. She couldn’t keep from crying out, but as soon as the second half of the bolt clattered to the ground she was being steadied by Edér.

“You alright?” he repeated, more slowly this time, as his eyes grazed over her, taking in the rest of her injuries.

“Had worse. You?” Even as she asked, Neria glanced over him; Edér was covered in as much blood as she was, but hadn’t seemed to sustain the injuries she had. Grasping at the wound on her shoulder, Neria let out a shaky breath and nodded towards Edér’s pack. “Bandages?”

“Yeah. Think I got a potion, too.” Already rummaging through his things, Edér pulled out a few clean strips of cloth and a small vial. “I’ve got a couple scrapes, nothing too bad. Drink up.”

She reached greedily for the potion, downing it in a single gulp and allowing herself to relax as the pain began to lessen and Edér methodically bandaged up her shoulder. She watched him closely as he worked, brow furrowed in concentration on his slow, deliberate movements. Neria reached up with her good hand after a moment, thoughtlessly, and wiped at a smudge of crimson on Edér’s forehead. He didn’t move away, but glanced up at her; she considered pulling her hand back, but instead gave him a soft smile. “Thanks. Just… generally. For leaving Gilded Vale with me, and helping with the keep, and not bolting even though this Watcher shit is _really_ fucking weird.”

Edér began to say something, but stopped himself, turning back to the bandages and inspecting them carefully before speaking. “Just wait until we get those records from the war. I’m as good as gone.”

“Good to know. See if I ever follow through on that promise.” Neria’s grin widened, and she gave Edér a good-natured shove backwards. He sat back on his heels, then began gathering up the bandages, at which point Neria realized something was missing. “The dog…?”

“He’s fine,” Edér assured her, standing slowly and reaching down into a busted up crate just beyond the alleyway entrance. “Didn’t want him runnin’ off or getting caught up in things,” he explained, scooping up the puppy in one arm. “Think you can make it back to the inn?”

Only half-listening, Neria shook her head in disbelief at the sight of Edér towering over her, covered in blood and sweat and dirt as he cradled a little golden puppy. She didn’t even really _like_ dogs, but she was very glad she’d threatened a merchant for this one. “You owe me a drink,” she informed him, pushing past him to head towards the inn and hide the fact that she couldn’t hold back an affectionate smile.

 


End file.
